Vaccine opponents cheer White House’s COVID-19 lab leak site

This week, vaccine opponents misrepresented a CDC autism study as the agency considers rolling back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.

This week, the White House sparked online debate by replacing a former COVID-19 vaccine resource site with content that promotes the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from an experimental virus in Wuhan, China. Although the site provided no new evidence to support the lab leak theory, vaccine opponents claim it proves they were right about the pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, the HHS secretary’s comments about autism drew criticism and anti-vaccine speculation as social media users reacted to the CDC’s apparent plan to roll back universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.

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What’s trending in vaccine conversation:

On April 18, the White House replaced the “COVID-19.gov” landing page with a page claiming to reveal the “true origins” of COVID-19. The new website suggests that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and accuses the Biden Administration of covering up evidence of a lab leak. The “evidence” on the site is pulled directly from the 2024 House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic report, which did not include any new or direct evidence to support its conclusion that a lab leak caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Several subcommittee members refuted these claims, stating that the “investigation did not uncover the origins of COVID-19. Both pathways remain plausible, and we are more or less where we started.” Many popular anti-vaccine and conspiracy social media accounts promoted the site as proof that COVID-19 was deliberately leaked from a lab as a bioweapon. Some posts called for health officials to be arrested and COVID-19 vaccines to be withdrawn, while others called COVID-19 vaccines and the so-called lab leak cover-up crimes against humanity, claiming health officials have “blood on their hands.”

During an April 16 press conference, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a number of false claims about autism, including repeatedly referring to an “autism epidemic” and claiming that autism is a preventable condition caused by environmental toxins. While Kennedy didn’t mention vaccines, his supporters used his comments to further spread the myth that vaccines cause autism. Many posts cited a recent CDC study finding that, in 2022, one in 31 children were diagnosed with autism. The study suggested that access to early evaluation and diagnosis resources—not environmental factors—influenced the rise in autism diagnoses. Several posts falsely claimed that California, which had the highest autism rates in the study, has the highest vaccination rates in the country. Other posts repeated the disproven claim that aluminum in vaccines causes autism. 

At an April 15 ACIP meeting, a majority of committee members supported ending the CDC’s recommendation that people 6 months and older stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations. The advisory committee is expected to vote in June to shift from a universal recommendation to a “risk-based” recommendation for those at highest risk of severe disease. Some online argued that the change may reduce COVID-19 vaccine access for children and younger adults, while others supported the decision, saying that “less vaccines are better.” Several posts expressed concern that the CDC is not trustworthy under Kennedy’s leadership and called on states to reduce their reliance on ACIP guidance. One post by a self-identified pediatrician claimed that adding COVID-19 vaccines to the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule damaged parents’ trust in childhood vaccines and increased vaccine hesitancy.

Read the fact checks: 

• The Guardian: Trump White House replaces Covid website with treatise on ‘lab leak’ theory 
• PBS News: What research reveals about the rise in autism diagnoses and why vaccines aren’t the cause
• Johns Hopkins Medicine: COVID-19 Vaccine: What You Need to Know

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Talking points for health care providers to use in response to trending narratives

Each week the Infodemiology.com team will provide talking points and supporting messages in response to some of the trending narratives outlined above. Health care providers can use this messaging when discussing vaccines online, talking to patients, or engaging with communities.

We don’t know exactly where COVID-19 originated, but we do know that vaccines are the best way to fight it.

• The exact origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains unknown because there is not enough concrete evidence to form a consensus. Although many experts support the theory that the virus originated in nature before spreading to humans, they don’t rule out the possibility that it accidentally leaked from a research lab. 
• The White House’s new COVID-19 origin webpage pulls its “evidence” directly from a controversial 2024 House Subcommittee report, which did not include any new or direct evidence supporting the lab leak theory.
• Regardless of the COVID-19 virus’ origins, vaccination remains the best defense against severe illness, hospitalization, long COVID, and death.

Experts believe that autism rates are rising because of increased awareness and improved diagnosis, not because of vaccines or “toxins.”   

• A new CDC study about autism rates is being misused by vaccine opponents to falsely claim that vaccines cause autism. 
• However, the study contradicts these claims by revealing that some areas with the highest autism rates have the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the country. The researchers suggest that improved access to early evaluation and diagnosis is a major driver of rising autism rates.  
• Decades of research in millions of children have shown that vaccines don’t cause autism.
• Aluminum boosts vaccine effectiveness. No studies have found any negative effects from the small amount of aluminum in vaccines, which is roughly equal to the amount found in a can of baby formula.

Vaccines are the best way to protect against COVID-19 for people of all ages.

• The CDC currently recommends that people ages 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to stay protected against the virus. 
• Vaccination protects against serious illness, hospitalization, long-term complications, and death.
• High-risk populations are not the only people who benefit from COVID-19 vaccination. A recent study found that unvaccinated children and teens are 20 times more likely to develop long COVID than their vaccinated peers. 

Interested in recommendations tailored to public health professionals? Click here.